Furnace charging fixture



1 2- F. o. GRUBEL ETYAL 2,300,733

FURNACE CHARGING FIXTURE Filed Nov. 16, 1940 i426 F12; if

IIII I i Frank Q Grubeb.

Raymond GKoan.

INVENTORE BY mg ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 3, 1942 Frank 0. Grubel, Paterscn,-N. J., and Raymond I C. -Koon, New York, N. Y., assignors to Wright ration, a corporation of Aeronautical Corpo .New York Application November 16, i940, Serial No. 365,960

Claims. (01. 211-13) This invention relates to the art of handling equipment for heavy objects and is particularly concerned with the provision of a skeletonized rack upon which a plurality of cylindrical parts may be loaded for subsequent joint insertion in and withdrawal from a furnace or soaking pit.

In the production of aircraft engine cylinder barrels, as an example, the partly fabricated cylinders are placed in a furnace for heat treatment, and prior practice has consisted in stacking the cylinders in the cold furnace manually, then accomplishing the treatment, then cooling the furnace and its charge, and in then unloading the furnace. Obviously considerable furnace time and fuel is wasted in the cooling and reheating steps.

We have provided an improved carrier for the cylinders whereby a large number may be arranged in a rack, outside the furnace, and the loaded rack may be bodily placed in the hot furnace, subjected to heat treatment, and then removed from the hot furnace. The rackful of cylinders may then cool outside the furnace While the latter is charged with a freshly loaded rack.

One of the requirements in the heat treatment process is that virtually all surfaces of the cylinders be open to furnace heat and to gas therein, and in particular, free circulation of furnace gas in the interior of the cylinders must be allowed.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a rack to hold a large number of articles in spaced relation to one another and to provide such an open rack structure that the rack does not prevent free circulation of air or furnace gas over the surfaces of the articles loaded thereon. A further object is to provide a rack structure having large capacity, adequate strength, and of such simple design as to be low in cost and simple in manufacture.

Other objects will become apparent in reading the detailed description below in connection with the drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan of the rack;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the rack; and

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. l.

The rack consists of an assembly of a plurality of substantially similar component units If) secured to one another, each unit Ill comprising three triangularly arranged coplanar rings H, l2 and I3 integrally joined to one another by webs M, l5, and i6. oppositely facing half-lap ears I! and I8 extend from the ring H. each ear I? engaging the ear l8 of the next unit 10. A half-lap ear I9 extends from the ring I2,

and a half-lapear ill extends from the ear i3,

the-ears 49 and 2-llof-adjacent units 'Hlbeing engaged with one another; The units ill are polygonally arranged, six being used to form one deck 2| of the rack whereby the deck may hold eighteen cylinders for heat treatment.

Each ring ll, [2 and I3, as shown in Fig. 3, is formed with a web 22 and a flange 23, the latter having an annular recess 24 within which the bottom of a cylinder such as 25 is located.

The recess 24 allows of quick stacking and loca-' tion of cylinders in the-rack.

The rack comprises severaldecks 2| as shown, these being spaced apart by pipes 28 disposed at the overlapped ears IT, IS, of the decks. Rods 29 pass through the pipes and through holes in the several ears, the rods being secured to the top and bottom decks by welding or other suitable means. At the overlaps of the ears I9 and 20 of each deck, rivets 30 may be used to secure the units Hi to each other. the decks, lift rods 32 are secured as bywelding, these rods extending upwardly a distance substantially equal to the distance between decks 2| and having lifting eyes 33 at their upper ends. To provide additional assurance of proper spacing between decks 2|, the rods 32 may have pipes 35 sleeved over them, these pipes being equal in length to the pipes 28. Webs 16" of certain units I0 may be formed as protuberances for engagement in vertical guide channels in a cylindrical furnace, to hold the rack from rotation during insertion and withdrawal.

The rack as shown and described is easily loaded and unloaded from all sides.

While we have described our invention in detail in its present preferred embodiment, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art, after understanding our invention, that Various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. We

aim in the appended claims to cover all such modifications and changes.

We claim as our invention:

1. A charging fixture for holding a plurality of cylindrical parts comprising a plurality of elements each including three triangularly arranged coplanar annuli joined together by integral Webs,

At opposite webs l6 of allel skeletonized platforms disposed one above the other, means secured to the platforms for holding them in said spaced relation, each said platform comprising a polygonal assembly of elements secured together by said securing means, said elements each comprising three triangularly disposed rings having integral webs joining them and each ring having an annular recess for receiving one said cylindrical part.

3. A rack for a plurality of articles comprising platforms disposed one above another, means secured to the platforms holding them in spaced relation, each platform comprising a plurality of annuli each annulus being substantially tangent to its neighbors and said annuli defining openings therebetween, and means securing said annuli to one another, each said annulus having an adapted to support an article, and means to connect said elements together to form said platform in such a manner that the perimeter of the platform is composed of one side of each of the triangular elements, the connecting means between said coplanar annuli and the connecting means between said elements being relatively narrow to leave large openings between the annuli.

5. A rack for a plurality of articles comprising a plurality of skeletonized platforms disposed one above the other, means to support the platforms in spaced relation, each platform comprising a plurality of elements each of said elements annular recess to locate a circular article dis C nected to each other, each of saidannulibeing comprising a plurality of connected annuli with each of said annuli arranged to support an article, means to connect said elements together in such a manner that the elements are disposed about a central point, the connecting means between each element and between each annuli being relatively narrow to leave large opening between the annuli. I FRANK O. GRUBEL.

RAYMOND C. KOON. 

